


Across the Miles

by SaraJaye



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Falling In Love, First Kiss, Hurt/Comfort, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Near Death Experiences, Nightmares, Post-Episode: s04e06 A New Defender, Post-Naxzela, Zine - Rebel Fire (Rose)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:20:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22621654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaraJaye/pseuds/SaraJaye
Summary: Keith had never been good at getting close to people, but he accepts Matt's offer of friendship anyway. He never counted in it becoming so much more.
Relationships: Matt Holt/Keith
Comments: 3
Kudos: 122





	Across the Miles

The team insisted he spend the night on the Castle of Lions after finding out what he'd tried to do. He'd expected a chewing out, lots of tears, possibly a smack to the head only to get practically smothered by hugs instead.

“I thought you’d be mad at me,” he finally said. “I mean, you always are whenever I do something risky.”

"We let you know when your poor decisions affected the team," Allura said. "This time, you only would have affected yourself and what would scolding accomplish?"

"You're alive. That's the only thing that matters." Shiro hugged him for probably the twentieth time that night. "But don't ever do anything like that again, understood? Because next time we  _ will  _ rip you a new one." 

Keith laughed as everyone else jumped onto the hug pile. Even if he knew the team loved and cared for him, it was nice to be reminded.

When the hug pile broke apart, Matt pulled him aside.

"Hey, listen..." He looked nervous, a little hesitant. "I really am glad you're okay. I mean, I know I'm not actually part of the team, but... you scared me back there." Keith bit his lip, remembering Matt calling desperately out to him as he prepared to ram the shield, stopped just in the nick of time by  _ Prince Lotor. _

"I'm sorry."

"No, don't — you were just doing what you felt you had to, but Shiro's right. We're all just glad you're alive, Keith." Matt held out a small piece of paper. "Here, take this."

"This is..."

"My comm number," Matt said. "Seeing you nearly die out there made me realize I never had a chance to get to know you back at the Garrison, and really, there's no excuse. We both knew Shiro. You and I could've been friends, and I don't want to miss out on another chance. So please... can we talk a little now and then?”

It was the first time anyone had ever said something like that. Even Hunk, who  _ was _ more or less his friend by now, never really brought up the Garrison days, focusing only on now. But here stood Matt, with a face full of hope and longing, and Keith's lingering attempts to keep most people at a distance faltered.

"I'd like that," he said. He tucked the paper neatly into the inner compartment of his pack, and after a moment’s thought, held out his hand. “Thanks.”

Matt’s handshake was firm and warm, his smile bright. It would stay in Keith’s mind for hours after he left with the rest of the Blades and it was the last thing he thought about before he fell asleep that night.

  
  


The next week passed by so quickly he almost forgot about his talk with Matt until his face came up on the viewscreen, looking somewhere between concerned and disappointed.

“You okay, Keith? I kept checking my comm for anything from you. I know you’ve probably been busy, but—”

“I’m so sorry.” He collapsed onto his sleeping pallet, propping himself up on one elbow to face the screen. “Time got away from me. The quintessence trail’s gotten stronger and we can’t afford not to be chasing it every hour. Sometimes I rarely get any sleep, but I never meant to forget about you, I swear.”

Matt smiled. “Hey, don’t worry about it. I mean, I’ve been kinda busy myself,” he said. “We got my dad back! It was kind of tough going. Zarkon used him as a bargaining chip for Prince Lotor and Lotor ended up killing his dad, but our dad’s safe. He’s going back to Earth with messages for our families!”

“Good.” Keith couldn’t help the sad envy welling up in his heart. Even now he missed his dad, wished he were still waiting for him at home in their old desert shack. “How’s everyone else?”

“We’re fine,” Matt said. “Shiro’s said something about headaches, but... well, you know him. Always working too hard, too stubborn to know when to rest.”

Keith frowned. “I do know him. You guys make sure he gets enough rest, okay?”

“We’re already on it,” Matt said. “And the same goes for you, Keith. I know the mission’s important, but I don’t like this  _ I don’t get any sleep _ business. And unless I’m making an ass out of you and me...” Keith blanched as his stomach suddenly growled.  _ Talk about bad timing _ .

“I’ll try to remember to eat more often. I promise.”

“Didn’t Hunk send you off with some sandwiches and cookies and stuff?” Matt asked.

“Yeah, but I only ate half of it. The rest I ended up sharing with the other Blades because Hunk’s such a good cook and Blade rations are kind of...” Keith gave a wave of his hand, and Matt smirked.

“Bland? Gross? Both?”

“Yeah.” Keith chuckled. “Even people who’ve been eating that slop forever don’t like it. They eat it because it’s there and they have to, but even Kolivan seemed impressed with Hunk’s cooking. Even if he won’t admit it and scolded me for getting people used to it.”

“I’ll have to tell him it was a hit, then,” Matt said. “And to send more. Especially for you!”

The rest of the conversation went on in a similar vein with the occasional story about something funny Lance or the mice did, or some upgrade Pidge was working on. Keith listened to every word with a smile, the exhaustion of the past several days melting into a pleasant tiredness. He could scarcely remember the last time he had a chance to sit and talk to someone about plain old  _ life _ . Even his talks with Shiro since finding him had been mostly about the war, Zarkon, training; they’d had so little time to catch up.

It was  _ nice  _ to just talk to someone and not have everything go back to the never-ending battle they were fighting.

When he and Matt hung up, Keith curled up under his meager covers and tried to go to sleep. Early mornings were a big part of this mission.

  
  


One night, weeks after the Naxzela incident, he woke up from a dream of blinding whiteness and pain. He shivered violently, his heart pounding, he suddenly felt so lonely. Without a second thought, he punched in Matt’s number and prayed to whoever was listening that he’d still be awake.

“Keith? Hey, what’s up?”

“ _ Matt _ .” His voice shook, much to his embarrassment. Keith squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, taking several deep breaths, trying to hold back the tears prickling at the back of his eyes

“Keith? Are you okay? You look kinda pale,” Matt asked. Keith swallowed, opened his eyes, and nodded.

“I just... felt like talking,” he lied. “How are you? How’s everything going over there?” 

Matt frowned. “You don’t seem like you’re just looking to talk. I’m not a mind-reader, but—”

“I’m fine, really.” Keith swallowed again, taking another deep breath. “I mean, I didn’t want to go another long stretch without talking, so…”

“Okay..." Matt didn’t look convinced. “So what do you want to talk about?” And Keith froze, because he couldn’t  _ think  _ of anything but the sick, scared feeling weighing on him.

“Well, I guess... your tech projects, or something? I dunno.”  _ Or the fact that I almost died _ .

“Which one?” Matt asked, but Keith barely heard him.  _ Died, died, died. _

“—communicator,” Matt was saying. “What do you think?” Keith blinked, rubbed his eyes, and looked back to the screen.

“Huh? Um, mind repeating that? Sorry, I—”

“Keith, you’re not okay.” The words were blunt, almost stern. “You’re pale, you’re shaking, something’s obviously bothering you. Come on, you know you can tell me,” Matt said. “I promise, I won’t say a word to anyone else.” 

Keith sighed. “I can’t even  _ say _ it. I’m afraid... this is gonna sound stupid, but I’m afraid I’m still in that moment, that I’m about to die and there’s no Lotor to save me and I’m just  _ dreaming  _ all of this.” And then the tears were falling as the fear he didn’t even know he’d been holding back for so long finally made itself known. He hated crying. It wasn’t going to change anything and even worse it was so embarrassing.

When he looked at the screen again, Matt looked like he was about to start crying too.

“I wish I could be there right now to give you a hug.”

“I wish you could, too.” It was the first time Keith had ever admitted such a thing and it was strangely _ relieving _ in a way. “I can’t talk about this to any of the Blades, their whole philosophy is accepting your own death if something goes wrong. They wouldn’t understand.”

“Yeah, I thought so. I wanna say it bothers me, but everyone deals with things in their own way, I guess. And let’s be real, being a Blade is dangerous,” Matt said.

“Exactly. I can’t really blame them.” Keith sniffled, rubbing his nose on his hand. “And even if they weren’t, I don’t want to bother them with this anyway, you know how I am about talking about this sort of thing,” he sighed. “But... I’m glad I can. I mean, with you.”

Matt smiled and Keith saw him raise his hand to the screen like he was trying to wipe away his tears from a thousand miles away.

“I’m glad I could be the one you came to then. You’re not alone, Keith. Even if you can’t always talk to someone about your problems. The Blade care about you in their own way, and your team’s always thinking about you. And... well, you’ve got me.”

Keith smiled a little, pressing his hand to the screen to cover Matt’s. “Thanks. That means a lot.”

For the rest of the night, he slept better than he had in a long time.   
  


After that, Keith was the one to initiate calls more often than not. If Matt wasn’t there, he would leave a message, and according to Shiro the first thing Matt did when he had some free time was check to see if Keith had called. If Keith didn’t have a chance to call, Matt was waiting for him as soon as he came back from a mission or a meeting.

He learned more and more about Matt with each talk. He could cook, actually  _ cook _ , instead of just heating up canned or frozen meals the way most guys their age could. He was a big fan of the original Star Wars trilogy and he had so many favorite books he couldn’t choose a favorite. Thanksgiving was his family’s favorite holiday of the year.

He believed Pluto was still a planet, no matter what anyone said, and would die on that hill.

“Hey, I never stopped believing that either,” Keith said. “You’re not alone. Besides, you have proof now that you’ve been to one of its moons.”

“I keep telling myself that. I mean, Shiro used to say if it has a moon, it’s a planet. Sure, my time there kinda got waylaid, but I was still  _ there! _ ”

Whether they talked for just a few minutes or half a night, hearing Matt’s voice and seeing his face was the highlight of Keith’s day. Even more than getting to talk to Shiro, Keith realized at one point. Not that he didn’t still treasure his best friend and jump at the chance to talk to him, but more in the way one would get excited about talking to long-distance family members.

He couldn’t put a finger on how it felt with Matt. Stronger than friendship, but not like family. Seeing the team made him smile, but seeing Matt made his heart race and goosebumps rise along his skin. On harder days (problems with the mission, an argument with Kolivan, a death) just hearing Matt talk about codes or some upgrade he and Pidge were working on made him feel better, no matter how lousy he’d been feeling before.

He couldn’t define such a feeling. It was scary sometimes, but for the most part he was starting to like it.

  
  


When Kolivan sent him on a mission with another Blade who turned out to be his mother, of all people, things got crazy. He barely had time to talk to Matt anymore, but he made it a point to call every few days just to keep him updated. Sometimes he’d catch Krolia watching their talks, and she’d give him these looks.

“You like him a lot, don’t you? Hold onto him.” And when Keith tried to deny what she was implying, he found himself at a loss for words. He’d seen the flashes of his parents’ relationship, listened to her stories of their life together, how she’d wanted to stay and raise a family and grow old with Dad.

He wasn’t thinking that far concerning Matt, but her face radiated softness when she talked about Dad, and he recognized it as the same softness  _ he _ felt whenever he talked to Matt.

He’d only ever felt close to this once, for the first friend he’d ever had. But Shiro was older, not to mention taken; a double dose of off-limits. So Keith had kept his feelings to himself, eventually moving past them to appreciate his and Shiro’s friendship for what it was.

But his crush on Shiro had been so intense. What he felt for Matt was... okay, sometimes it was also pretty intense, but more often it was less like a firework waiting to go off and more like a warm, soft blanket waiting for him after a long day. Comfortable, reassuring, and the more he realized it the more he wanted to hold onto this feeling.

Suddenly, he couldn’t wait to finish the mission and go back to the team.

  
  


And then, everything went crazy, all of it a blur in Keith’s head. Finding the source of the quintessence, the colony, going back to the team with Romelle in tow, Lotor’s admission of harvesting quintessence from Alteans, the battle with Shiro — no, Shiro’s  _ brainwashed clone _ , because he’d almost died and the real Shiro was  _ dead all along and his spirit was inside Black _ and—

He’d lived, though, he’d survived that battle and the final showdown against Lotor and they were  _ going home _ . Shiro was alive, after all that his best friend and brother figure was still alive and they were finally going home.

When the dust had a chance to settle, though, he realized someone was missing from the group.

“Where’s Matt?” he asked.

“He left with the rebels,” Pidge said. “But he promised to meet up with us as soon as he could, whether it was here or back on Earth. Before he left, he told me to give this to you. He found it on one of the planets we performed The Voltron Show for.”

It was a piece of rock, shiny with all the colors of the rainbow and bits of crystal. It was fairly round with a few little bumps here and there, and in silver ink Matt had written  _ for my favorite star _ .

Keith’s cheeks flushed, his heart sped up, and his eyes filled with tears as he held the rock gently to his chest.

_ Matt... _

  
  


The trip home seemed to take forever. With the Castle of Lions gone, recharging the lions was no easy task. So many things seemed to happen, all of it a blur. At one point Acxa joined their group and revealed that  _ three whole years _ had passed on Earth, partially due to Lotor’s blasting in and out of the rift.

But they made it. Safe, sound, in one piece, everyone waiting to welcome them home as heroes. Even  _ Iverson _ of all people smiled and congratulated them all, even going so far as to apologize to Keith for not believing him.

Keith, who usually didn’t care if anyone apologized or not, couldn’t help feeling smug.

The family reunions were a mixed bag. Lance looked like he’d died and gone to heaven as his huge family smothered him with hugs and kisses, and Pidge’s mother was hugging and yelling at her all at once. Hunk’s family, unfortunately, had been taken to a labor camp by the Galra and Keith knew that rescuing them should be a top priority.

And then, he heard a voice he hadn’t heard in too long, felt arms draped across his shoulders.

“Welcome back.”

Keith turned around and flung his arms around Matt, happy tears escaping as he buried his face in his shoulder. He looked taller, felt more muscular, his hair was in a ponytail but it was still the same Matt who’d slowly captured his heart across so many miles.

He dug the rock from his pack, tracing the letters, and Matt smiled sheepishly.

“I wanted to give it to you in person,” he said. “I wanted to be there when you finally came back from your mission, but the rebels, well...”

“It’s okay.” Keith sniffled, cupping Matt’s cheek in his hand. “I missed you, but I knew I’d see you again. I only wish I had something to give you,” he said, taking the rock from his pack. It shone brilliantly in the sunlight he’d missed for the past few years.

“Don’t worry about it.” Matt hugged him closer. “I’m just happy to see you again, Keith.”

Their faces were less than an inch apart, so close Keith could practically taste his breath. The feelings he’d spent so much time contemplating in the quantum abyss, Matt’s gift, how seeing him again after so long made him finally feel  _ right  _ again.

“Matt,” he murmured, “can I...I mean, would it be okay if—”

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” Matt said, and kissed him. The last piece clicked into place, and for the first time since they’d landed back on Earth, Keith felt truly at home.

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Katt Zine Rebel Fire - Rose edition. I had SO much fun writing for and being a part of this zine! <3


End file.
